Masks of lies
THE FOLLOWING PAGE IS JUST A DRAFT AND WORK TO EXPAND IT IS CURRENTLY UNDER WAY. THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IS HIGHLY FRAGMENTED AND FOR THE MOST PART INCOMPLETE. VIEWER DISCRETION IS THUS A MUST, ALSO BECAUSE OF THE INEVITABLE SPOILERS. The masks of lies are a special power featured in the videogame Dry Drowning. Though the real nature of such power hasn't been made clear yet, at least two characters possess it, the most important one being the protagonist himself, Mordred Foley. Extracts from the psychic evaluation of Mordred Foley: "I'll try to be as clear as possible, professor. Every time someone lies to me, an animal-shaped mask appears on their face, distorting space and reality. I never understood where this waking nightmare came from, and I honestly don't care. Right now I just want you to stop messing with me by saying that no one is ever going to listen to this conversation. How can I deduce that you're lying? Take a guess." ... "What... what happens to me is not the result of some superpower, like in those stupid comics. This comes from some degenerative psychological condition that's bringing me to hit rock bottom, forcing me to face the true face of the people I meet. Stress just makes it worse, rendering it unreliable and extremely dangerous. Breathe, breathe, breathe and deal with it. Don't worry, or everything will be for nothing. Don't mess it up. Never. Again." Overview: Though the real nature of this power is never clearly explained, Mordred's hallucinations carry a very strong symbolical meaning on the aesthetic level, ultimately creating a dichotomy: on the one hand the cold, artificial and order driven flavor naturally belonging to Nova Polemos (best represented by the technoir style featured in the city's locations) and on the other one the boiling, animal-like, instinct-driven behaviour typical of individuals who find themselves cornered and compulsively lie to protect themselves regardless of social prescriptions. This theme is also strongly emphasized in the three different sound tracks that play during Living Nightmare sequences, which purposefully attempt to reenact physical changes usually associated with lies (such as an increase in the heartbeat rate). ... Instead of showing a fixed mask, some characters feature a continous rotation of various animals (the most notable example being Pandora himself during his monologue before the beginning of Chapter 1). This is an attempt to best represent the twisted personality that belongs to them. Living Nightmare: Upon spotting a character that is hiding behind a mask Mordred cannot usually press him for the truth right away. At this point, the mask serves only to let the player know that said character is lying. The player will only be able to expose said lies once he has collected enough evidence, which will allow him to enter "Living Nightmare" mode. In this mode the game graphics become twisted to best represent Mordred's vision: if the player guesses right and presents the correct evidence he will see himself the mask progressively dissolve. Guessing wrong three times will however result in a Game Over. Since Dry Drowning doesn't feature choices that are inherently right or wrong, failing during a Living Nightmare sequence is effectively the only way to obtain a Game Over screen. Doing so will allow the player to unlock the "Learn from your mistakes" achievement on Steam. Below follows a list of Game Over scenarios as well as the Living Nightmare sequences that can cause them to occur. Game Overs: * Failing during Baker's interrogation in Chapter 1 will make him upset at Mordred's stupidity, prompting him to conclude hiring him was a mistake. He then proceeds to fire Mordred. * Failing during Abigail's interrogation in Chapter 1 will cause her to feel insulted by Mordred's allegation. She thus leaves, promising they would face in court. Trivia: * The three eyes that float over Mordred's head and represent the health bar of Living Nightmare mode are probably a reference to the third eye, an esoteric concept found in many religions that implies the owner's ability to perceive things beyond ordinary sight. * The human/animal dichotomy, dreadful flavor and oniric theme of the Living Nightmare sequences are strongly reminiscent of elements featured in the videogame Hotline Miami. * Conversely, the gameplay mechanic that demands the player to progressively press on the NPCs' lies by presenting refuting evidence was directly inspired by the Ace Attorney series.